| A | B |
|---|
| Renaissance | : great revival of art, literature and learning in Europe in the 14th, 15th, 16th centuries, based on classical sources. Began in Italy. Marked transition from the medieval world to the modern. |
| Christopher Columbus | made exploration across Atlantic to Caribbean |
| Amerigo Vespucci | land Columbus reached is named after this man; he is an Italian banker and geographer. He made a voyage along the coast of Brazil then made another voyage along the coast of Argentina |
| Treaty of Tordesillas | : imaginary line dividing the world. All land west of line belonged to Spain, all land east of line belonged to Portugal. |
| Hernando Cortes | searched for gold and riches in what is now Mexico. Fought with Aztecs and Tenochititlan. |
| Conquistadors | any of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico, Peru or other parts of America in the 16th century. |
| St. Augustine | Spanish settlement set up in Florida in 1565 |
| Philip II | became ruler of Portugal and of all its possessions. His empire stretched from Manila in the Philippines around the world to Mexico |
| Jacques Cartier | explored the St. Lawrence River and gave the name Mount Royal to the site of the present day Montreal |
| John Cabot | : Italian explorer, westward into the Atlantic to seek new lands and to set up trading posts. First he landed on an island he named New Founde Lande then on his second voyage he was lost at sea. |
| Ferdinand Magellan | Portugal navigator, sailed west and south across the Atlantic, around the tip of South America through a strait that still bears his name, and then north and west across the Pacific |
